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Summer Darkness, Utrecht, The Netherlands
August 12th 2005
Estampie, Oceans of Sadness, Qntal, The Dreamside, Dulce Liquido, Epica, Suicide Commando

This year it was already the 3rd edition of this Dutch Underground Lifestyle event. In the city of Utrecht several venues took part in this event and besides the music there were many other activities. There was a gothic picnic, a city walk, showing all beautiful gothic sights of Utrecht and a gothic market where you could find a new outfit or just accessorise the one you already had.


Estampie (by RG)

The opening concert of Summer Darkness took place in the Dom church. Many had overcome the rain and made their way to the church. To show the people of Utrecht a bit of Summer Darkness this concert was free and open to all. Since it had been in the papers there were a lot of people and some had to wait to get in for people with a ticket could go in first. The benches filled up quickly with dripping wet people, a mixture of Goths and ‘normal’ people. The sponsors and all who had been working hard to make the festival possible were thanked and then the band was introduced.
 
Music
Estampie brings a mixture of Medieval and modern songs, they all sound like religious songs, as if they really belong in a church. The songs are guided by guitar and other more historic instruments. Syrah (vocals/flutes) has an enchanting voice, very delicate and pure. She leads all songs but is at times accompanied by the men of the band which creates a warm sound. Most of the songs were slow and restful. But sometimes things were spiced up, especially the last, which was not guided by instruments but by their own clapping, had a lot of energy and made us leave the church in a cheerful mood (the fact that is was dry outside helped as well).

Performance
The performance of Estampie is very static, they hardly move which is also not very appropriate with their music. Syrah stood in the middle of the low stage wearing a long purple gown. She was surrounded by the men of the band who were only seen by the people in the first couple of rows. In-between songs they gave some explanation about the songs but it was all in German and difficult to hear due to the sound in the church. It was a relaxing and easy start of the festival.

Rating
Music 8
Performance 7
Light - none
Sound 7
Total 7 (7,3)




Oceans of Sadness
(by RG)

They started out in 1995 as a band of young friends and have gone a long way since. In 1999 they even win the Metal Bash Award which is organised by the Aardschok, a Dutch metal magazine. They signed a record deal with the Belgian LSP records. They have released those two albums and now time has come to release their third album ‘Send in the Clowns’.

Music
Tijs Vanneste (vocals) can alternate between deep grunts and high screams, which could be the voice of an evil child in a horror movie. In the dark corner of the stage Hans Claes (keys) is hidden, his keyboard tunes give the flair to the music, they enlighten the dark bass sounds. Overall this music does not stand out, although the voice of Tijs has great qualities. They played a song of their new album ‘Send in the Clowns’, this song promised good things for the future, it had a nice beat and was much more catching.

Performance
The stage was very small in the Helling and thus there was not much room to move on stage. The lights were a bit like a disco, flashing on and off, but most of the time the stage was just dark. Although Tijs has a great voice, he could be more open on stage. I have hardly seen his face, his hair was often in front of it or he was bending over so I couldn’t see either. The rest of the band was mostly left in the dark and had no space, so they were all just playing their instrument and enjoying the performance.

Rating
Music 6
Performance 6
Light 5
Sound 6
Total 6 (5,9)




Qntal
(by RG)

This was the first band performing in Tivoli on the opening day of Summer Darkness. Since this is quite a familiar band in this scene I had expected it to be fuller but it was not that busy. 

Music
Michael Popp and Syrah are not only 2 of the three members of Qntal, they are also part of Estampie. Some of the same instruments are used but some electronics have been added such as the keyboards played by Fil Groth. The sound was very loud, during the first song many walked away from the boxes. Syrah seems to have some trouble with her high notes, for they were a bit out of tune, as for the lower parts, those sounded great. When Michael and Syrah sing together it sounds wonderful; just the right amount of friction between their voices.

Performance
Syrah addressed the audience in Dutch, she had especially learned it for today and she did well. This immediately caused a connection with the audience. While she was singing she also sought eye contact. Besides this the performance was quite static as well. Fil did do some banging at times, when there were some heavy parts in the music he banged his head so hard it seemed to be loose. There was mostly a mist of red light on stage, with two white spots from behind. At times a nice atmosphere was created but a little more light would have been nice, for then you could have seen the faces of the band better.

Rating
Music 7
Performance 6
Light 6
Sound 6
Total 6 (6,3)




The Dreamside (by EE)

Maybe better known in other countries than in their home country The Netherlands, but they were at Summer Darkness to let the Dutch audience know who they are and show them there is more than the ‘typical’ gothic metal bands. In-between two significantly louder bands, this was an emotional trip to the inner thoughts and feelings normally only experienced when deep asleep.
 
Music
This band, consisting of  Kemi Vita on vocals, Kees and Fried (Angels and Agony) on guitars, Roman on bass and Marijn on drums, sure has their share of bad luck when they enter the stage. It seems like all the electronics are having an off-day, which doesn’t stop the band from giving a good overall musical performance. Kemi’s vocals are nothing like the well known female fronted metal bands, her voice carries this emotional charge in a way that reminds me of Björk and Tori Amos. The overall sound was good, the sound level during the gig was very nice, no earplugs were needed really. Sometimes Kemi’s voice was a bit far back in the mix but apart from those few incidents it was nice to listen to.

Peformance
When the intro is playing and the band is entering the stage they are all wearing masks, a reminder of the show they did the week before at Ball du Masque but it does make the start of the show just that bit more special, they might have to consider doing this more often. Kemi moves in mysterious ways using her body to emphasize the feelings buried inside the lyrics. It’s clear the band struggles with the small bit of stage that’s left but apart from the few gentle collisions this is not really stopping them from giving an enthusiastic performance. Near the end of the show the drummer has to get his seconds of fame when he emerges from the smoke to ask for a new drum stool. Apart from the smoke hiding the drummer, the light was actually pretty nice with mainly red/blue combinations and white spot accents, not too fast and not boring either.

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 8
Sound: 6
Light: 7




Dulce Liquido (bt EE)

Hocico’s Racso Agroyam from Mexico has a solo project: Dulce Liquido. His intentions are to show us his world which is full of machines which are slowly putting people in the background. The darkness coming from this music is getting a grip of you, just letting go when the show’s over.

Music
The band intro on the Summer Darkness website claimed this would be raw, and they were right. On stage Rasco was joined by two men, one playing drums, the other on keys, he himself played drums and did vocals on most of the songs. Heavy beats, forcing your heart to get in tune, dramatic but industrialized melodies and the fully distorted voice of Rasco got a grip on you, tight but not paralyzing, the audience was dancing; hypnotized by the music. The music was loud, the levels however were quite acceptable. Whenever needed the band adjusted the mix on stage, which led to a well balanced overall musical performance.

Performance
A man in a monks cloak, a man wearing a high hood on his head which he had to adjust frequently during the show and a man with a short Mohawk and a facial mask entered the stage to kick of with a display of brutal beating. After a while the cloaked man came to the front and started to scream his lungs out, throwing around the mic stand (they always seem to be the subject of inert anger) and singing while getting up close and personal with his fans at the front of the stage. Frantically moving from side to side while firing his electro shock generator towards the audience this man knew how to gab the audience’s attention. Much smoke and frequently changing lights fit the music well. Quick changes pulsing to the beat of the drums and rotating lights at add to the anxiety.

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 6




Epica (by RG)

I had expected Tivoli de Helling to be packed for the performance of Epica, but it seemed the Epica fans are just not Summer Darkness visitors. There were some familiar faces but not as many as during a regular performance. It might have been a tougher crowd then they are used to in the Netherlands, but they pulled it off anyway.

Music
With ‘Dance of Fate’ the show was off to a powerful start. Simone has made some changes in tunes, not big ones just so that the songs don’t get boring and stay fresh; instead of hitting a high note she might sing it lower of change the rhythm a bit. The bass is very powerful in the sound mix and sometimes it over rules the voice of Simone. ‘Solitary Ground’ is a very emotional resting point during the show, goose bumps are spread all over the venue.

Performance
Since their new album is released Epica also has a new backdrop of course, but besides this they also have two front drops now decorating the stage. Only thing is they take up space and the stage is not that big. Coen was fully visible but Jeroen was a bit hidden behind the backdrop and at some points in the venue you could hardly see him for some monitors in the middle of the stage were in front of him. There was a lot of blue lighting during the show, which caused the band members to look a bit pale. Coen was singing along behind his keys and Simone announces they are glad to be back. It seemed Epica had been looking forward to this show for they were all full of fresh energy and enthusiasm. Simone is head banging like never before and Yves is making faces al through the concert. During ‘Seif Al Din’ Mark asks for a mosh pit. He gets a little one; this audience had to be convinced. After a few songs they get more and more enthusiastic and at the end of the show they even shout for more.

Rating
Music 8
Performance 8
Light 6
Sound 7
Total 8 (7,5)




Suicide Commando (by EE)

The Belgian Johan van Roy has been the driving force behind his band Suicide Commando for the last decade. This is aggressive and dark EBM that will make you move your feet. A venue full of anticipating Goths dancing to the music played by the Summer Darkness DJs hurry themselves towards the stage as the first notes of the show set in.

Music
The band is basically formed around Roy who does the distorted vocals while two others take care of the keyboards, or drums. The music sounds like it should sound, straight out of the box, nothing fancy, nothing special, just as it’s on the records. It’s however Roy himself who makes it more than just like the cd was played. His aggression live seems to be even bigger than on the recorded versions, his vocals were convincing, I just hope he isn’t this angry with the world all the time. Music and vocals were well mixed as to be expected from a band using so much electronics.



Performance
This man was all over the place, while in the back there were two stationary musicians playing keys or drums. During the entire performance we saw nice and appropriate projections on the screen in the back in the colours red, black and white. Being very bright these projections might have been able to draw the attention from the energetic singer, but they didn’t. Though ill lit, his powerful performance drew most of the attention to him. Flashy lights, strong beats, aggressive vocals and an angry man on stage, great performance!



Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 7




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